Mid Argyll & Kintyre

Campbeltown
Harbour

Mid Argyll & Kintyre covers a large swathe of mainland
Argyll & Bute. It
extends from Southend near
Campbeltown in the south
to, almost, Dalmally in the
north, a distance by road of 100 miles. The description below starts in the
south and progresses north and then east.

For
accommodation in Mid Argyll & Kintyre see the
links in the "See and Stay" menu above. See the map below for an outline of the area and
links to surrounding areas.

Mid Argyll & Kintyre, Showing Main Settlements & Connecting Areas

Set at the head of a deep loch, sheltered by Davaar Island and
surrounding hills, is Campbeltown, one of the
largest towns in Argyll. Its
heyday was in the Victorian era with its thriving shipbuilding, fishing and
whisky industries. Today only three distilleries are in production. The best
known is Springbank
Distillery, which provides a unique insight into a distillery which
undertakes 100% of the process in-house.

Elsewhere in Campbeltown is the excellent
Campbeltown Heritage
Centre, while on the quayside is the Campbeltown Museum and Library and the
nearby "Wee Picture House". Campbeltown also has some
striking churches, including the Lorne and Lowland Church and its huge tower,
built for the Scots-speaking residents of the town, and the
Highland Parish Church,
built for the Gaelic-speaking
highland population.

Carskey Bay and Macharioch Bay both have appealing beaches
overlooking Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde. Beyond Keil, the road continues
to the most southwesterly point of the peninsula, the
Mull of Kintyre. From here,
Ireland, only 12 miles away, is clearly visible.

Campbeltown
lies at the eastern end of the only low lying part of
Kintyre; the western end being
occupied by Machrihanish,
five miles from Campbeltown. Its airport
boasts one of the longest runways in Europe, and provides air services to
Glasgow. Meanwhile,
Machrihanish is
increasingly making a name as an internationally important golfing
destination.

Further north, you take your pick between roads running up the east
coast or the west coast, for there are no cross-connections between
Campbeltown in the south
and Kennacraig, just south of
Tarbert, in the north. Of the two
alternatives the west coast offers the main road, much of it laid along raised
beaches standing back from wonderful rocky bays with white sand, complete with
superb views of Jura and
Islay. And if you want to visit the
low-lying Isle of Gigha with its many
attractions, then this is the side to take. Access to
Gigha is via a frequent car ferry from
Tayinloan on the Kintyre coast,
which itself is roughly mid way between Tarbert and
Campbeltown

This isn't the side for anyone in a hurry, but it does offer
dramatic views of Arran, and a range of
surprising little settlements, including Saddell, home to the ruins of
Saddell Abbey. Nearer
Campbeltown the road also
passes the well preserved remains of
Kildonan Dun. Further north
is the slipway at Claonaig, from where you can catch
the ferry to
Lochranza on the
Isle of Arran.

Tarbert is a lovely
fishing village backed by rocky hills. The distinctive church tower dominates
its skyline. Tarbert was a centre
for the herring industry as far back as 836 when it gained mention in the
Annals of Ulster. As you travel south from
Tarbert, you realise just how close
the rest of Kintyre is to being
an island, with only the short distance from East Loch Tarbert to West Loch
Tarbert providing the link back to the mainland. A few miles further still is
Kennacraig, the location of the main ferry
terminus for Islay; and a rather
lonely spot in which to find such an important transport link.

Lochgilphead
is the administrative centre of
Argyll and Bute. It lies
at the head of Loch Gilp, an arm of Loch Fyne. It is also the chief town of
mid-Argyll, an area which extends west from Loch Fyne to the Atlantic Ocean.
Lochgilphead is a planned
town in the style of Inveraray
and Bowmore on
Islay. There are tourist services in
the town and a range of places to stay.

South of Lochgilphead is the small
port of Ardrishaig. This is the south-eastern end of the
Crinan Canal, a waterway built
in 1801 to allow vessels to avoid the long trip around the Mull of Kintyre. The
western end of the canal is at Crinan
on the Sound of Jura, providing direct access to the North Atlantic and the
Hebrides. Close by is the peninsula leading to the harbour village of
Tayvallich. A minor road down
the other side of Loch Sween leads to
Inverlussa Church,Castle Sween, a nearby
Cross Slab, and
Kilmory Knap Chapel.

Head north east along the A83 from
Lochgilphead and you come
to the attractive whitewashed town of
Inveraray, on the shores of
Loch Fyne, built by the 3rd Duke of Argyll in the latter half of the 1700s. Its
harbour is home to the Arctic Penguin, a three masted schooner built in 1911,
and now part of the town's Maritime Heritage Centre. Another attraction in the
town is Inveraray Jail.
This is a jail and courthouse which allows visitors an insight into the world
of Victorian crime and punishment. On the edge of
Inveraray is the town's best
known attraction, Inveraray
Castle, the magnificent seat of the Dukes of Argyll.